The first 2 have gained quite a bit of traction over the past few years while the crock pot has long been a staple for soups, stews, etc.
We have all 3 and I would rank them: Instant pot, crock pot, air fryer.
I put the instant pot ahead of the crock pot because it is so versatile. It has quite a few features (although I’ve only used about 3 of them) and the ability to put frozen beef or chicken in it and have a meal in 30-60 minutes just amazes me. If I need to simmer something for a long time or am taking something to a potluck, that’s where the crock pot shines.
IMHO, the air fryer is too much of a one trick pony and I think that they’ll decline in popularity rather quickly, if they haven’t already.
I have an Instant Pot and use it several times a week. As someone living in a trailer, it’s an absolute must. I might eventually get the Air Fryer attachment, but it’s not a necessity for me, and I haven’t done anything with a Crock Pot for quite some time.
As for recipes, I was about to spinoff a new thread from this OP, but then I realized there’s already a thread for Instant Pot recipes. Here it is, and I’ll post some of my favorites to it.
The instant pot has a slow cooker feature. That was the selling point for me. I was interested in it, but not interested in another thing to collect dust. The fact that it could potentially replace my crock pot meant I could put that elsewhere so it’s not taking up space anymore.
I haven’t used the slow cooker feature yet for a few reasons. The main one being that most slow cooker recipes can be adapted for the instant pot and come out just as good. But also, I still use the crock pot and I assume, but I don’t know, that the instant pot doesn’t do as good of a job of slow cooking as the crock pot.
I do use the slow cooker feature on the Instapot for everything but big batch meals.
The Air Fryer has replaced the toaster oven for reheating in addition to it’s air frying use.
Crock pots still used for the big meals.
Until this thread, I had never heard of an Instant Pot. I googled it. It seems pretty interesting. When our new kitchen is done, I shall ask my wife if we should get one.
If you’re undergoing a kitchen remodeling, get the instant pot NOW. One appliance you can plug in anywhere and get home cookin’ without stovetop or oven usage.
Well I was planning on being the first to put the crock pot at #1, but I see mmm beat me to the punch. However I differ in that the instant pot and especially the air fryer have no place in my kitchen.
I know, I know: the instant pot is the “it” kitchen gadget that everyone just loves. Well lemme tell you: I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!
We use our crock pot often for the usual stuff: soups, stew, pot roast, chili, yadda yadda yadda. I borrowed an instant pot from my mom and was… unimpressed. Yeah, it cooked stuff fast(er). BFD. Maybe I’m fully entered get-the-hell-off-my-lawn age, but I’ve been cooking with a crock pot long enough to adapt my cooking to it and frankly I just didn’t have any use for the instant pot.
I’ve only seen an air fryer used by other people and frankly it struck me as a novelty. Considering its popularity perhaps there are subtleties that I am unaware of.
Instant Pot
Crock Pot
Air Fryer - not on the list!
I used to use my crock pot quite regularly, but since getting the Instant Pot the crock pot doesn’t get used as much anymore. Why not cook something for 45 minutes instead of 8 hours and get the same result? My Instant Pot still amazes me.
I mentioned this in other posts - I had an Air Fryer for 1 day and then returned it. I was not impressed and it stunk up my house with hot oil smell even though I just sprayed a very small amount of oil in the basket.